The artistic interpretation of Tolkien's imagination can be breathtaking. Or it can be appalling... Join in on the discussion of the artistic representations and collectible items in the Tolkien universe.

Yes, I always draw him with some sort of pale brownish hair. Always have. Someone on Elfwood once told me there was a reference to fair hair in the Lay of Leithian, but I haven't looked at it again.

It's a long debate whether "the Fair" means light-haired, light-skinned or just beautiful - but his name is mentioned in such an antithesis to Caranthir the Dark that I always thought it referred to his hair.

And it can NOT have meant his character

Have you got the German Silmarillion there, by the way? How did they translate "the Fair"? I've only got a couple of English versions. ^^;;

I hope mine will follow soon. Today I got more done than I thought I would, because I found out that one can paint in the car We got stuck in traffic for about an hour on the way back from rehab, and luckily I had everything I needed with me

I very much like both your versions. The shaded, uncoloured one seems to have even more impact than the other, perhaps because the dramatic lighting is more prominent here. But the colouring in the other is also great. I look forward to seeing our versions next to each other.

Oh, I also love how the paper's structure can be seen, mostly in the background

Indeed . Got a bit more done yesterday, but the rest (mostly the background) I won't manage before Sunday evening.

I've checked the Silm. Mostly "fair" has been translated with "schön", but in the listing of the sons of Feanor, "Celegorm the fair" is "Celegorm der Helle". It's followed by "Caranthir der Dunkle", so it may indeed be a reference to the colour of his hair, since Caranthir is elsewhere said to be darkhaired.

Yes, I thought so! That would explain why I never changed my views on Celegorm's hair colour. Especially as he is never said to be dark-haired anywhere.

It came as a real shock to me when I finally had it black on white that Fingolfin and his sons had dark hair. I think that was one of the reasons that stopped me drawing Silmarillion themed pics in 1996. I simply couldn't come up with a dark-haired Fingon then... and now look at me, drawing Maedhros with long hair

For many years I wasn't sure about Fingon's haircolour, but since I didn't have to draw him (well, I did once, but there he wears a mail neckguard over his hair), it didn't matter so much. When I found out that he's darkhaired, I thought, well, ok. But it's different of course if you're used to depicting the characters differently.

Shall we present it as some sort of "mini comic"? You can send it over, and I'll put it together in Photoshop, with the accompanying text under it. I haven't got any duties tonight. Then I'll send it back to you for approval.

Anke, your new picture of Aredhel is absolutely gorgeous. She looks like a tough customer, not a fragile little elf-princess, or maybe a bit of both. The picture inspired me to write a double-drabble about Eol and Aredhel, which I'll post later at SoA, after I've polished it up a bit and written a few other short pieces...

Yes, Aredhel looks great. Like Raksha said, she looks like someone who can perfectly well look after herself and knows what she's doing. And, in this picture, I can't find a single one of those little things that bother me in many of your paintings.

To paraphrase one of my favorite television characters - Aredhel looks like she wants a bit of monster in her man. Poor thing; that's what she got, and she, and then all of Gondolin, paid for it. Aredhel also looks both restless and driven.